hack

In a statement today, VTech, maker of gadgets for children, announced that its customer data has been breached. According to the company, an “unauthorized party” accessed data within the Learning Lodge app store database earlier this month; that database has neither banking info nor certain personal identification details like social security numbers, but does have 'general' profile info.

Apple's new 3D Touch functionality is currently only available on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. With its pressure sensitivity, 3D Touch enables features like Peek, where a somewhat firm press opens a preview of an email, image, etc, and Pop, which is a firmer press to fully transition to said previewed item. These features could prove to fairly useful on the new iPad Pro, but how would it work if the tablet doesn't have the same screen tech as the iPhone 6s?

In late September, a report surfaced claiming that some Hilton properties had been hit with a data breach, leaving customers’ payment cards vulnerable. Hilton had responded with the promise of an investigation, saying it took the matter “very seriously.” In a statement released to customers today, Hilton Worldwide announced that the report was true, and that some of its point-of-sale systems were hacked.

In a letter from its president, Starwood Hotels in North America has announced that it suffered a data breach at many of its properties across the United States. The breaches started and stopped at different times, with some having happened last year and others as recently as this past summer. Starwood cites a malware intrusion affecting select point of sale systems as the cause of the data breach, allowing the hackers to access some customers’ credit and debit card details.

Touchnote, a fairly popular postcards and greeting cards app, has announced that it suffered a data breach recently. The company made the announcement in a statement this evening, saying hackers made off with customer data, including names, home addresses, and email addresses. An investigation is currently underway; at this point the company is uncertain of how many users were affected.

The hacking group Crackas With Attitude, which previously infiltrated the personal email of CIA Director John Brennan, says it has breached a law enforcement portal through which one can access tools for law enforcement and arrest records, among other things. The breach is a serious one, and was accomplished via a vulnerability that hasn’t been detailed. One of the breached systems is a database containing U.S. arrest records.

Gamer geeks will put their favorite video games on anything just because. Such is the case with the Nintendo 64 Emulator that is playing on Android Wear in this video. The game is being played on the LG G Watch W100. At the beginning, we see Mario 64 action.

Last week, the UK telecom TalkTalk was hit with a cyberattack, and a short while later it revealed that a ransom had been made by an individual claiming to be behind the hack. The cyberattack was described as being “significant and sustained,” though later on it stated the attack wasn’t as bad as previously feared. Now a teenager has been arrested by law enforcement in Northern Ireland in connection to the cyberattack.

PCs, smartphones, and tablets are fair game to hackers these days. And we've also started to see cars with sophisticated infotainment systems and controls also getting hacked. But how about the innocent little whose sole purpose is to keep your body healthy? Well, now they're getting hacked as well. And worse, they might be used to make other computers unhealthy. Fortinet researcher Axelle Apvrille reveals that the Fitbit is one such wearable that easily succumbs to a hack in just 10 seconds and can then spread the malware to computers it syncs with.

Although they haven't become the widespread and always used features they were meant to be, voice controlled virtual assistants like Siri, Google Now, or Cortana can be found in almost every mobile device in the market. In some cases, they are even enabled by default. While convenient and useful, this may lead to some serious security and privacy issues, as some researchers from the French government agency ANSSI have discovered. They have come across a way to call Siri and Google Now into action with neither user nor hacker uttering a single word.

The Dow Jones has revealed that it recently suffered a data breach, with its customer data being targeted. About 3500 customers have been affected as a result of the hack; the compromised data includes contact information and bank card details. Says the company, it does not have evidence that the data was stolen, only that it was compromised. Customers potentially affected by this will receive a letter in the mail with further information.

This past Friday, Scottrade announced that it had suffered a data breach potentially affecting millions of users. The breach happened some time between the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, possibly affecting users who opened an account before February of last year. In a statement, the company revealed that it appeared only contact data was targeted in the breach — names and home addresses, namely. Concerns abound that the hackers may use the stolen data to manipulate stocks.